LAWYERS for Palestine Action have accused the Home Office of a defamatory and “cynical media campaign” which threatens to prejudice criminal trials, The National can reveal.
Yvette Cooper has made up claims against the group and misrepresented expert advice which led up to the group’s ban under terrorism laws, according to solicitors at Birnberg Peirce.
The firm has sent a letter to the UK Government’s legal department which said: “The case which your client [the Home Secretary] is attempting to litigate in the media is entirely different to the case which your client has put before the court in open [court].
“This cynical media campaign reflects a fundamental lack of respect for court proceedings, and either indicates an attempt by your client to influence media coverage through assertions which she cannot evidence or is reflective of a serious breach of her duty of candour in these proceedings.”
The letter sets out that the advice Cooper (above) received from the Proscription Review Group (PRG) did not reflect the case she has since made that the group are involved in serious violent crime, noting that the expert panel on terror bans characterised the group’s activities as being “criminal damage to property, using tactics such as graffiti, petty vandalism, occupation and lock-ons”.
It goes on to argue that while there are allegations that one protester affiliated with Palestine Action caused serious injury, the PRG “did not consider this incident reflective of Palestine Action’s activities as a whole”.
The PRG set out that if Palestine Action did begin to openly advocate for violence this would “constitute a significant escalation” of its strategy and noted that the proscription of the group would be “novel” because there was “no known precedent of an organisation being proscribed on the basis that it was concerned in terrorism mainly due to its use or threat of action involving serious damage to property”.
Elsewhere, the letter argued that Cooper’s claims that Palestine Action has targeted Jewish businesses “are untrue and she knows them to be so”.
It added: “As your client is well aware, the business which was targeted was in fact the registered premises of Discovery Park Ltd, the landlords of a Kent-based subsidiary of the Israeli weapons company, Elbit Systems.
“Misleading reporting in the media at the time suggested that ‘anti-Israel’ graffiti had been sprayed outside. In fact, the graffiti simply stated ‘Drop Elbit’.”
The letter also rubbished a briefing to The Times from Home Office sources which said there were concerns within the Government that the group was being funded by Iran.
Cooper “relies on potential prejudice to ongoing proceedings” to avoid commenting in detail about specific allegations against Palestine Action, the letter added, while simultaneously referring to those proceedings in the media.
The letter closed with a demand for the Home Secretary to publish her advice on Palestine Action’s proscription, claiming that she had publicly advanced a case against the group “which is entirely different than that advanced before the court”.
Huda Ammori, one of the co-founders of Palestine Action, said: “The Labour government's cynical media campaign to try to persuade the public that violence and hate were at the centre of the decision to proscribe Palestine Action is entirely wrong and misleading, and is being challenged in ongoing court proceedings. The proscription is entirely based on property damage.
“Keir Starmer, Yvette Cooper and Labour MPs have claimed they have private information and this has now been repeated by Scottish Labour, with MSPs urged to pass on these untruths to their constituents. By making these misleading claims, the government is engaging in a deliberate smear campaign to try and justify the draconian ban on a domestic direct action group.
“We have asked the UK government to disclose all briefings it has given to MPs, which we also now believe have been passed to Scottish Labour.”
We revealed yesterday how Anas Sarwar found himself under fire after feeding MSPs lines from the London headquarters on Palestine Action, which one source described as “defamatory”.
It comes after Private Eye reported that Police Scotland had concluded the group had “not breached the threshold for counter terrorism” officers to become involved after Palestine Action members occupied a Thales factory in Glasgow.
This is despite that incident being repeatedly invoked by Cooper in defence of her decision to proscribe the group.
The Home Office declined to comment, citing ongoing legal proceedings.
